


Abandonment

by katling



Series: Tony Stark Bingo [25]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Adventurers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Author is apparently salty, Darkish Tony Stark, Gen, I don't know where I was going with this, Not Steve Friendly, The salt spilled over into the AU, moderated for my peace of mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-20
Updated: 2019-08-20
Packaged: 2020-09-19 02:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20323324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katling/pseuds/katling
Summary: Steve Rogers is the leader of a team of adventurers. When they're hired by Tony Stark to find an ancient temple, he thinks it'll be an easy job for good money. Instead, some old chickens come home to roost.Written for the Tony Stark Bingo 2019 - Square A2: AU: Adventurers/Explorers





	Abandonment

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I don't know where this one came from either. Though, apparently I shouldn't write stuff after reading salty Team Iron Man fics because it bleeds over into AUs.

“This could have gone better.”

Steve looked over at Clint with a forbidding expression that didn’t really work quite as well as it normally did. Unsurprising, given they were currently chained up in an ancient dungeon. The only good part about it was that everyone was here. 

Clint was opposite him and looked almost bored with their predicament, idly testing the chains that bound his hands over his head. Then again, Clint had the most experience out of all of them in being imprisoned. He bragged about it constantly, though Steve often disapproved of that. Being locked up wasn’t something that ought to be celebrated. Still, it might come in handy now.

Natasha was next to Clint and Steve was a little worried about her. Nat’s normal expression was a sort of calculated blankness that tended to unnerve people. Right now, though, she looked utterly sulphurous and was muttering imprecations under her breath in her native Russian. Steve wasn’t sure who those imprecations were directed at and when he’d asked, she’d given him a look he couldn’t quite decipher before going back to her muttered swearing.

Sam, who was next to Nat, was bearing up stoically with most of his attention on Wanda who was wilting in her chains just next to Steve. She was a witch, but the chains were iron, which meant she was essentially powerless. She’d responded to Sam’s encouragement early on but for the last couple of hours, she’d hung from her chains, passive and listless. Steve was worried for her but mostly he was worried about Bucky.

His friend was at the end of the row and Steve couldn’t see him very well. Bucky had responded to his questions with one-word answers before finally falling silent. Steve wished he could see him better. Bucky had spent years as a prisoner of war and had only been released after Steve tracked him down. This must surely be sheer torture for him.

It made Steve wish that he’d never accepted this job in the first place, but the money had just been too good to turn it down. It was rare for Tony Stark to seek an independent exploration group but apparently his personal teams were all committed to other ventures and there was a time element involved with this one. Steve still hadn’t been convinced that taking the job was a good idea. He had an… interesting history with Stark that had left… not bad blood precisely but certainly at atmosphere that was fraught with tension. Worse, Bucky had been forced into assassinating the man’s parents when he’d been a prisoner, something Steve had found out a few years ago, shortly before he’d found Bucky again. He hadn’t told Stark though. Bucky’s safety was more important.

In the end, the money had just been too good and it wasn’t like Stark would be coming with them. He had business in England and Europe and would be tied up with that for at least six weeks. That had meant that Steve had been able to send Nat to negotiate the terms and ensure he didn’t have to look the man in the face.

Now, though, he was wondering whether the money had been good enough. The trip to Belem and then to Macapa had gone smoothly, Stark’s money easing the way. Finding a boat to take them up the Amazon to Manaus had been a little trickier but they’d gotten there without much fuss. There they’d been able to engage guides and buy canoes to take them further down the Amazon. 

He probably should have known something was wrong when the trip to the junction with the Jutai River went smoothly. Going that deep into the Amazon never went smoothly. The stories of previous attempts were legendary and mostly ones of disaster and death. Steve had felt smug that their trip was going better. He should also have been more suspicious when the local guides hadn’t been nervous as they headed down the Jutai. The natives were notoriously superstitious and the temple they were heading for was supposed to have been revered by cannibals.

Now Steve suspected that the story about the cannibals was pure myth. The temple was ancient but had been picked over years ago and if the detritus left behind was anything to go by, that team had been a Stark Industries team. He should have insisted they turn back once they’d realised that another team had been there but the talk over the campfire had been that the job was a cover to find out what had happened to the team. Natasha had been the key vote, agreeing with the assessment and saying that Stark had been evasive about what precisely was in the temple, only that there would be ‘many treasures’. She’d felt that Stark hadn’t wanted to admit to a lost team, hadn’t wanted to let any known how much his ego – and probably wallet – had been dented.

So Steve had agreed to stay and search for the other team. However, as they got further into the temple, it had seemed less and less likely that the other team had been lost. At first he’d thought the temple had been picked clean but when Sam had examined the statues and wall carvings, it seemed like there had never been any gold or jewels involved in them. They had all been starting to get suspicious when some local tribesmen had emerged from the walls and raised blow dart pipes to their lips.

They’d all woken up here and not even Steve could break the chains that held them to the walls. They’d been here for hours and there hadn’t been a single sign of the natives or anyone else. He’d have thought they’d been left here to die except they could hear the sound of soft footsteps passing the door from time to time.

Now finally it seemed like they were going to get some answers because the footsteps approaching were heavier and the gait was strong and steady. The footsteps came closer and closer to the door and Steve craned his head to see who it was. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see everyone else other than Wanda doing the same. For a moment, the footsteps paused outside the door then the owner of them walked in.

“Stark!” Steve yelped.

Tony Stark sauntered into the room, looking them over with amused satisfaction. “That was honestly easier than I expected.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Steve demanded but Stark ignored him to look at the others.

“I gave some thought to a long drawn out monologue or some other sort of overblown speech but that really does seem a bit melodramatic,” Stark replied. “So instead I’m going to ask each of you one question. It’s a yes or no question and that is the only answer I’ll accept from any of you. If you answer no, my friends will come in and take you out of here. You’ll be transported back to Manaus with a tidy sum of money and if you’re smart, you’ll find some dark corner of the world and hope I don’t decide to come for you.” He smirked and Steve felt a shiver run down his spine. “But if you answer yes, well, I wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.”

He paced down the line. “Now, I know you could lie but that was why I chose this particular temple for this expedition.” He held up a strange rock in his gloved hands. “This is vibranium. Most of the world’s supply is in Wakanda, which most people think is just a myth. They’re wrong, of course, but that’s not the point. Vibranium has a lot of different properties but curiously enough, if you coat vibranium with the sap of a plant that grows in the heart of this temple, you get a handy-dandy truth serum.”

Now he walked back down the line and each time he came to Steve or one of his crew, he scratched the rock down their upper arm hard enough to break the skin and make them bleed. He then rubbed the stone on the open wound, just for good measure. Once he was done, he stopped and turned to face them.

“It works rather quickly,” he said, raising one arm to look at his watch. “Just a few minutes to precise.”

“What’s this about, Stark?” Steve demanded. 

Stark smirked. “You’ll find out soon enough. Now shush. You’ll all get your turn to answer my question.”

Steve fell silent. There were many things he wanted to say but Stark looked entirely disinterested and there was a gun at his hip that Steve didn’t want to give him an excuse to use. It was only a few minutes anyway before Stark tossed the rock aside and walked over to Wanda. The young girl raised her head and glared weakly at him. Stark ignored that and leaned in to whisper a question in her ear.

“Now, remember,” he said as he took a step back. “Yes or no only.”

Wand glared at him sullenly. “No,” she finally said.

Stark turned to the door and gave a low whistle. A couple of tribesmen came in and detached Wanda’s chains from the wall. They then rather unceremoniously tugged her out of the room.

“Wanda!” Steve yelled then he turned to Stark. “What are they going to do to her?”

Stark gave him a look of complete unconcern. “Take her to Manaus. Exactly like I said. _I’m_ not a liar.”

Steve twitched at the strange emphasis at that last statement but Stark had already moved on to Sam. Again, he whispered a question in Sam’s ear then when the man said no, had him dragged out like Wanda. Clint was next and he too was removed from the room.

Stark then went to Natasha and whispered into her ear. As he watched, she struggled against her bonds and clamped her mouth shut. Stark stepped back and gave her a cold smile.

“Answer the question, Ms Romanov,” Stark said mockingly. “You can try to say something else but I’ll remind you that whatever it is, it’ll be the truth. Might want to just answer the question.”

Natasha glared at him then grudgingly said, “Yes.”

Stark’s face turned very cold but he didn’t say anything. Instead he moved on to Bucky. Stark stood in front of him for a moment and just stared at him with an assessing gaze. Bucky stared back then he dropped his gaze. Stark’s eyes narrowed then he stepped forward and whispered in Bucky’s ear. As Steve watched, Bucky flinched then slumped in his chains.

“No,” he said hoarsely.

Stark gave him another long, assessing look then he nodded and gave that low whistle. Four tribesmen came in this time but Bucky went with them willingly. He didn’t even spare a backwards glance to Steve, which hurt more than he expected.

Now he was the only one left who hadn’t been asked and Stark sauntered over to stand in front of him. Stark directed another one of those assessing looks at him this time then stepped close and leaned in.

“Did you know that Barnes assassinated my parents?” he whispered.

Steve’s flinch sent his chains rattling against the wall and Stark stepped back with a cold smirk. 

“I don’t think you need to give me an answer,” Stark said. “I think we both know what it was.”

He turned to look at Nat and then back at Steve. “Well, well, the great American hero and the Russian spider. The mighty brought low. Who knew people with your reputations would be such bold faced liars.” He paused. “Well, if everything I’ve heard is correct, it’s probably not much a surprise from Ms Romanov but you, Rogers, you were supposed to be better than that.” He sighed dramatically. “Still, I suppose there is that old saw about heroes having feet of clay.”

“Stark,” Steve began but he didn’t know what to say.

“How did Barnes answer that questions as no?” Natasha asked, her eyes narrowed.

“Because he got a different question,” Stark replied. “I found the men who held him captive and we had a very long and intense conversation about Barnes. The Winter Soldier, they called him. Anyway, I know all about what happened to him so all I wanted to know is whether he was in control when he killed my parents. His answer saved his life.”

“You’re going to kill us,” Natasha said in an even tone.

Stark’s laugh was harsh and unforgiving. “No, Ms Romanov, I’m not. I wouldn’t waste my time. What’s going to happen is that I am going to leave and then my friends are going to seal the temple behind me.”

“You’re just going to leave us here?” Steve demanded. “Why?”

“Because you lied to me, Mr Rogers,” Stark said. He paused and chuckled coldly. “Well, I suppose lied to me is something of a misnomer. It would be more accurate to say that you never intended to tell me, did you?”

“No,” Steve said then his eyes widened because that wasn’t what he’d intended to say.

Stark burst out laughing. “Forgot about the truth serum, did you? Oh well, too bad for you but at least I got an honest answer out of you.” He leaned over and picked up the vibranium rock, tucking it into a small leather pouch. “Goodbye, Mr Rogers, Ms Romanov.”

He turned and walked out of the room and no matter how loud Steve and Natasha yelled or what they said, nothing made him turn back. The last thing they saw before the stone door to the room was shoved back into position was the curious but impassive face of one of the tribesmen.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that Tony was a bit dark and vengeful, wasn't he? I wasn't expecting him to go that way but... that's the way it played out.
> 
> And that's the end of my bingo card! I got a blackout! Yay me!
> 
> By the way, I have taken note of your comments on Reverse, Rewind, Play Again and I've moved it to my WIP folder so I'll see whether the muse cooperates. :D


End file.
